Travelog: Bali - Day Two

We started our Day 2 in Bali by having a short walk along the Kuta beach to find breakfast. Kuta beach is a surfing beach and when we were there we saw surfing operators prepping their makeshift stalls ready for the day. Already we saw people hogging their surfboards around, eager to go into the water.

Behind my wife is the wall of Kuta beach. Hotels, restaurants, shops are all lined up along the road. For such a busy and jammed road, they should have make the road two lanes.

Some dude with his surfboard.

We did not booked our hotel with breakfast included simply because we know that the food was not halal for us to consume. Bali is predominantly Hindu with a small majority of Muslims living here. There is a few restaurants that have halal certification, but for our ease of mind when we were in Kuta town we hit those fast-food franchises instead.

All international fast-food companies (e.g. McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, etc.) that entered the whole of Indonesia and give licences for franchises to open are halal-certified by the Majlis Ulama Indonesia (MUI). Doesn't matter if you are in Acheh, Jogjakarta, Surabaya or Bali, they are all halal. We had a quick breakfast at McDonald's while waiting for our supir to pick us up.

We visited an amphitheater called Sari Wisata Budaya to watch a traditional Bali dance called Barong and Kris dance. Barong is the number one mythical creature in Bali, which represents good fortune and health, and is very much popular here. It's not in our itinerary, but we thought why not - after all we ought to know more about the local folklore and legends here.

 

Personally, I think the company can improve more. Even though the story was printed in pamphlets and were distributed to all visitors, it's hard for foreigners to understand or listen to the performers. More so when the setting is done in an open space. Perhaps the performers can use a microphone or uses more than one language? I was half guessing for the rest of the performance on which characters the performers were supposed to be. In all, it was so-so.

Our next destination was to chill out at Pandawa beach. Yes, it was under hot, baking sun where the heat scorched the Balinese earth with extreme prejudice. Most people avoid going to the beach during noon but it was still a very pleasant trip for the both of us.

After we killed some time chilling (really? did we chill?) on the lounge chair under the beach umbrella, sipping coconut water and eating ice cream, we headed out to the main highlight of the day.

Our next destination is the Uluwatu temple to watch kecak and fire dance.

The dance is performed in an open amphitheater facing the sea. We knew beforehand that we had to be early to grab the best seat in the house so we arrived quite early as planned. Our supir handled the ticket and waited in line for us. To enter the temple, all visitors are required to don either a purple sarong to cover the legs or an orange sash to tie around the waist if already properly dressed. 

Because we came early, we had to wait for quite some time as people filling up the seats. The show started around an hour before sunset to make full use of the sunset in the sea view as the background of the dance. Again, we were sweating like mad here.

Uluwatu kecak and fire dance is one of the must-see attractions in Bali. It was quite entertaining for the first timers but I doubt it is something that you will do again when revisiting Bali (oh yes, you will visit Bali again for one purpose or another). I for sure will skip going here and will hit the beaches instead.

The dance ended around 7.30 pm or so. We decided to go back to Kuta for dinner and call it a night. That night was the first time I tasted a Wendy's burger. It might have been because of the hunger, but I found the burger was exceptionally tasty. Ho ho. 

That's it for our second day in Bali. I know it's wayyyy overdue but with COVID-19 outbreak and various personal matters that I need to handle I couldn't find any free time or the mood to continue writing about our honeymoon trip. Have no fear, tho, that I will finish writing about this travelog. Just don't expect it to be any time soon HAHAHA!